hold a lesson

USAGE SUMMARY

'hold a lesson' is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it to refer to teaching a class or giving a presentation about something. For example, "We will be holding a lesson on proper grammar usage this afternoon."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Academia

Science

Wiki

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

14 human-written examples

Does this study hold a lesson for us?

The New York Times

This show and this review, 200 years ago, hold a lesson for any critic now.

Independent

What he calls the "Yubari model" may hold a lesson for the country.

The Economist

All those documents and quarterly reports hold a lesson for today's business community, Rosenthal said.

University of California, Berkeley

We could keep all the pennies we could hold — a lesson in the fundamentals of capitalism.

The New Yorker

And they hold a lesson for job seekers in these difficult economic times: it really does matter how you behave in those friendly chats with would-be employers.

The New York Times

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

46 human-written examples

(See 3.38pm) * The government was going to hold a "lessons learnt" exercise in 2003, but shelved that because the time was not deemed appropriate.

The Guardian

It holds a lesson or two.

The New Yorker

But it holds a lesson: language is not constant.

The Economist

There are two answers, and each holds a lesson.

The New York Times

California's budget debacle holds a lesson for America, but one we will probably ignore.

The Washington Post

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When using "hold a lesson", ensure the context clearly indicates whether you are referring to teaching, gaining insight, or extracting a moral from a situation. For clarity, specify the subject of the lesson, such as "hold a history lesson" or "the experience holds a valuable lesson about resilience".

Common error

Avoid using "hold a lesson" when the intended meaning is simply to learn something passively. The phrase implies an active process of extracting insight or teaching, not merely being exposed to information. Use alternative phrasing like "learn a lesson" or "gain insight" to describe passive learning experiences.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "hold a lesson" functions primarily as a verb phrase. It describes an action which can be teaching or imparting knowledge (as seen in some Ludwig's examples), or it can mean that something contains a valuable insight. Ludwig AI states that the phrase is correct and usable.

Expression frequency: Common

Frequent in

News & Media

50%

Academia

21%

Science

14%

Less common in

Wiki

14%

Formal & Business

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, the phrase "hold a lesson" is grammatically correct and commonly used to convey the idea of teaching, instructing, or containing a valuable insight. As Ludwig AI confirms, this phrase is usable in written English. The phrase sees frequent use in News & Media, Academia and Science. To ensure correct use, it's important to distinguish between imparting knowledge (teaching) and gaining insight (learning). If you wish to avoid ambiguity, depending on the meaning, consider related alternatives such as "teach a lesson", "draw a lesson", or "learn a lesson".

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

impart a lesson

Replaces "hold" with "impart", focusing on the act of giving or conveying the lesson.

teach a lesson

Substitutes "hold" with "teach", emphasizing the instructional aspect.

offer a lesson

Replaces "hold" with "offer", highlighting the provision of a learning opportunity.

provide a lesson

Uses "provide" instead of "hold", stressing the act of making a lesson available.

draw a lesson

Shifts the focus to extracting insight from an experience, rather than teaching.

extract a lesson

Similar to "draw a lesson", but emphasizes a more deliberate and active extraction of the lesson.

learn a lesson

Changes the perspective to the receiver of the lesson, focusing on the act of learning.

gain insight

Replaces the entire phrase with a more general expression for acquiring understanding.

derive a moral

Focuses on extracting a moral or ethical principle from an event or story.

present a tutorial

Substitutes "lesson" with "tutorial", highlighting the specific type of informative session.

FAQs

How can I use "hold a lesson" in a sentence?

You can use "hold a lesson" to describe teaching a class, like "The professor will hold a lesson on quantum physics". It can also mean to extract insight from an experience, as in "This failure holds a lesson about the importance of perseverance".

What can I say instead of "hold a lesson"?

You can use alternatives like "teach a lesson" if you are talking about instructing, or "draw a lesson" if you mean to gain insight from something.

Which is correct, "hold a lesson" or "take a lesson"?

"Hold a lesson" means to teach or contain a valuable insight, while "take a lesson" means to receive instruction. They have different meanings and are used in different contexts.

What's the difference between "hold a lesson" and "learn a lesson"?

"Hold a lesson" refers to imparting or containing a lesson, while "learn a lesson" refers to acquiring knowledge or insight. The former is about giving, and the latter about receiving.